As part of any plan to lift or ease the confinement restrictions that are in place in many different countries, there is an urgent need to increase the capacity of laboratory testing for severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). Detection of the viral genome through reverse transcription-quantitative PCR (RT-qPCR) is the gold standard for this virus; however, the high demand of the materials and reagents needed to sample individuals, purify the viral RNA, and perform the RT-qPCR has resulted in a worldwide shortage of several of these supplies. Here, we show that directly lysed saliva samples can serve as a suitable source for viral RNA detection that is less expensive and can be as efficient as the classical protocol, which involves column purification of the viral RNA. In addition, it bypasses the need for swab sampling, decreases the risk of the health care personnel involved in the testing process, and accelerates the diagnostic procedure.

中文翻译：

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唾液采样及其直接裂解是在供应短缺的情况下增加 SARS-CoV-2 诊断测试数量的绝佳选择。


作为许多不同国家取消或放松限制的计划的一部分，迫切需要提高严重急性呼吸综合征冠状病毒 2 (SARS-CoV-2) 的实验室检测能力。通过逆转录定量PCR（RT-qPCR）检测病毒基因组是该病毒的金标准；然而，对个体采样、纯化病毒 RNA 和进行 RT-qPCR 所需的材料和试剂的大量需求导致了全球范围内的一些供应品短缺。在这里，我们表明，直接裂解的唾液样本可以作为病毒 RNA 检测的合适来源，其成本较低，并且与涉及病毒 RNA 柱纯化的经典方案一样有效。此外，它无需进行拭子采样，降低了医护人员参与测试过程的风险，并加快了诊断过程。